Re: Half of new Vinyl isn't played

I think a lot of the unplayed discs are in the possession of hipsters. My only concern is that, when vinyl is no longer the thing to be seen buying, I hope they offload their pristine, unplayed collections on second-hand shops, rather than just dumping them.

Specifically, I would like it if they all sold their LPs to Alan's Records in Finchley, North London (my nearest, hint, hint).

Re: Half of new Vinyl isn't played

Couldn't find the ICM source or how many were in the poll, but did find earlier ICM figures from 2013 [PDF].

At that time, based on a survey of 2030 users online, it was 27% who didn't play their records, and according to the introduction an equal number didn't own a turntable.

I personally have a small collection of vinyl that goes unplayed due to the latter, as I've been storing them for a time when I finally get around to getting the right equipment to make a good digital rip. For me it's because some releases are only available on vinyl.

Re: Half of new Vinyl isn't played

Wait... Probably 90-something-precent of it is never, or seldom, played. Sometimes new downloads never actually get listened to. It's very easy to just hoard digital music.

Was it so different way back then? Well, perhaps it was: buying a record (remember when we didn't refer to it as "vinyl," because it just... was. We didn't feel the necessity to point out that it was not shelac)... Err, rambling agin... Buying a record was more of an occasion, it was a much higher percentage of income, so not so many got put into the neglect-for-ever pile.

Re: Half of new Vinyl isn't played

I listen to every album I purchase from start to finish, sometimes multiple times. I even stopped pirating music years ago, when it became simply too convenient to be able to send money to the artists for their work, even when I was dipping into money I didn't actually have. (Credit.)

Re: Half of new Vinyl isn't played

Specifically, I would like it if they all sold their LPs to Alan's Records in Finchley, North London (my nearest, hint, hint).

101 Collectors, Farnham Seriously, I think the "vinyl revival" is to be applauded, anything that helps Musicians get paid has to be good. Opinions about the infinite resolution of analogue notwithstanding of course.

Re: Half of new Vinyl isn't played

I've recently re-started a Vinyl collection and I was a bit hesitant to do so as the main reason was a sort of nostalgia for when I used to collect it (I never bought into any suspect ideas about its quality with respect to digital).

I was worried they'd never get played, but actually I find that I've played every album I bought, and often do so on a whim, and I'm wondering why that is.

I think it's a couple of things, really, but it all boils down to the ritual, basically. I love albums, and there's something that I find inherently pleasing about a format which is designed for listening from start to finish (with a flip in the middle of course, or often likely a flip and a record change with modern album lengths). A format where it's easier to just listen to a track then try to fiddle about seeing to the start of the next one. Even though I rarely reach for the skip button on digital formats, there's just something about that that has nothing to do with sound and everything to do with where my head is at when listening to a record.

Doesn't hurt that the album art is really big, either.

I can sort of see why people would buy records just for decoration, but I think I only own one record which I don't intend to play, because of its relative rarity. In fact, I promised myself that if I was going to do this, it was to enjoy the records as possessions, and not to treat them like decorations or artifacts.

Re: Half of new Vinyl isn't played

I love albums, and there's something that I find inherently pleasing about a format which is designed for listening from start to finish (with a flip in the middle of course, or often likely a flip and a record change with modern album lengths). A format where it's easier to just listen to a track then try to fiddle about seeing to the start of the next one. Even though I rarely reach for the skip button on digital formats, there's just something about that that has nothing to do with sound and everything to do with where my head is at when listening to a record.

I don't think it was designed for start-to-finish listening. It's just the way it was. Back in those days. we were just used to picking up the arm and lowering the stylus on the track we wanted. In long, continuous pieces, we could even sometimes find the bits we wanted by the groove pattern, and even that was vastly easier than finding the place on a tape, unless you already noted the counter.

But mostly, yes, I listened to whole albums, so my counter to your point of view is that file-based digital saves me the trouble of getting up to turn the record over!